The weight you think is equivalent to beauty shows a lot about where you come from. If you look around, you will notice that people from different cultures are usually the same size as people of that culture (and if not, you can usually tell who the more “beautiful” people are). If you look in other countries, that isn’t the only thing that matters to be beautiful and they couldn’t care less if you’re big or small. This is seen even in the immigrants that come to our country. Some culture’s body sizes are bigger, and some are thinner. It seems like in the United States, the people we agree are most beautiful, are usually the thinner people. Every culture’s idea of beauty is different, and your view just depends on who you grew up around, and where you were socialized.

Gender Roles in the Gym

Murano, Grace. The 2nd best female bodybuilder on the IFBB ranking list. 25 October 2014. 8 Women Before and After Steroids. Web. 14 April 2015.

Recently in America, being fit has become popular in our culture. As a result, many gyms have been established and are becoming very prosperous. As a gym member, I have noticed that gender roles are still applied, even with something as simple as being fit. Gender roles are social constructs that determine how males and females think, speak, dress, and interact within the context of society. Gender roles are learned by the behaviors and attitudes your culture asserts appropriate for your sex. These gender schemas are deeply embedded cognitive frameworks regarding what defines masculine and feminine. In America, being extremely muscular is considered masculine, but it is not as socially acceptable for a woman to be exceedingly muscular. A woman can be trim but not too muscular or else they will be classified as manly.  Even the types of exercises in the gym can even be divided into masculine or feminine. The type of exercise that is considered the most masculine is usually weight lifting. It is very rare to see females working out in the lifting area. The type of exercise that is considered the most feminine is cardio or stretching. Some men do use the cardio or stretching machines; although, they are usually not as muscular as the men that work out in the lifting portion of the gym.

Profanity in the Social Classes:

Alhanati, Joao. N/A. 23 September 2012. Which Income Class Are You?.web. 14 April 2015.

Karlin, Anatoly. Lower class whites are “white trash” in the US, “chavs” in Britain, and “gopniki” in Russia. April 8, 2011. National Comparisons: The People. Web.14 April 2015.

Upon watching the documentary People Like Us, which is about social classes; I noticed that the amount of cursing a person does is directly related to the person’s social class. Throughout the film, several different people from different social classes were interviewed and it seemed as though people in the lower classes used profanity more often than people in the upper or middle classes. I believe the reason is because of socialization and education. Religion is also a contributing factor that can influence the use of profanity in the social classes but I will just focus on socialization and education. Socialization is the lifelong process by which individuals develop their human potential, learn their culture, and become self-aware. Therefore each person is taught what is considered acceptable behavior in their own social class. People who are raised in the middle or upper classes are taught how act in public which includes how to dress, eat, speak, etc. Whereas people in the lower classes are not expected to act as well-mannered in public, so their speech is not as proper as the people in the upper or middle class. The amount of education available to each person is also dependent upon social class. The school systems in the lower class or poverty stricken areas have less school funding; therefore, the teachers in the lower class areas are of poorer quality in comparison to the upper or middle class education systems. Also, middle or upper class people have the opportunity to attend private schools which results in them having a more extensive vocabulary in comparison to people in the lower class. As a result of lower class people not being as educated as the upper or middle class people, their vocabularies are not as broad, so they use curse words as fillers in their speech. Hence the more abundant use of profanity by the lower class people in comparison to the upper or middle class people.

Most people see fish as decorations, and not animals. Go to any pet store and ask what a popular fish is and what it needs to be happy. Ninety-nine percent of the time you will be directed to either the goldfish or the bettas. When you ask what they need to be happy you will normally be directed over to small aquariums that are under five gallons or even more space saving a simple fish bowl. This happens in every pet store many times a day. Most people think it is perfectly fine. When in fact this is animal cruelty. A goldfish will get over a foot long and live to be over 30 years old, but somehow it is okay to put the fish in something smaller than the fish should get? Would it be okay to put a cat in a kennel its whole life? No. As I looked around more I noticed a trend. I saw that when someone could directly interact with an animal or thought it was cute it received more humane treatment. So it seems that an animal’s value is based upon whether is it cute and cuddly versus living in an environment that humans cannot directly interact with.

Behavior of Active vs. Retired Military

Growing up, I heard several stories about the careers of aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents - most of my immediate family decided to join the United States military and serve our country. My understanding deepened when I myself entered into a relationship with someone in the military, and again when I spent my Spring Break at Fort Sam Houston in Texas.

At a campus with 12,000 students and an active ROTC program, it's no surprise I come into contact with military personnel, both active and retired. All my encounters have led me to see the differences and similarities in behavior between the two statutes.

Active: Active military personnel often are clean, direct, and walk with a purpose. Their language is made up of jargon, they sometimes use profanity, and every response ends with a "yes ma'am" or "yes sir". While in uniform, they are sure to take off their hats prior to entering a building and they are always sure to stay clean cut. While out of uniform, I notice that they often walk with purpose and keep the formal language.

Retired: I would like to note that the extent of their behavior is directly linked to their length of service, time spent in, and general experiences. 

I have noticed that retired military, no matter how long, often keep the profane but formal language. They also tend to stay organized, choosing simple clothes or less flamboyant ways of living. Their sense of respect for others also never fades.

However, reintegration into the civilian population often leaves retired military disoriented and sometimes fed up with the general human population. Because of their experiences, I often find retired military to be short with civilians or others that don't share their background or experiences.

In sum, I see little difference between active and retired military when I analyze their behaviors.

Different Cultures & Their Attitudes

I am about to finish my first year at Arkansas Tech University. I am from a very small country town where all the residents are pretty much the same type of person. For example, every one from my town owns farm animals (cows, horses, pigs, goats, chickens, dogs, cats, etc.); every one from my town goes to church on Sunday morning and attends the high school football games on Friday nights; every one says "yes ma'am" and "yes sir" and respects their mom and dad; every one eats at the local Daisy Queen; and every one has each other's backs, but is always interested in the local drama. With all that being said, being at Tech for a year I have come in contact with many different races and people from many different countries. I have realized there are so many different types of people. Not every one has a southern accent and southern hospitality, and that isn't them being rude, it just isn't the way the culture they grew up in was. I have also noticed that the same types of people hang out together. For example, when I walk into Baztech or the caf I like to look at all the tables and the people who are eating or studying or just visiting, and every one sits in their own "groups". The baseball boys all sit together, the people in baseball caps and cowboy boots are usually at the same table, the people of the same ethnicity mingle together, the sorority girls and fraternity boys all dress the same and sit together, and usually the same age people hang out together. People hang out and become friends with the same type of people as themselves and don't even realize it. It's just our nature. All this has made me realize that all of my closest friends have pretty much the same background as I do, the same type of family, and the same interests. With all that being said, being at Tech has brought to light so many different ways of living and how culture affects the way people view and treat others. 

Preference on Drink Temperatures: How that Reveals a Person's Culture

I am a server at IHOP and as a server I encounter many different types of people. I have worked at this restaurant for approximately 5 months. So I am pretty familiar with my job, and I have spent a lot of time observing different types of customers. From the very first minutes a customer walks in, I am able to tell if they are the kind of people who want breakfast food, if they seem like they will tip me, or if they are going to be more low maintenance customers (people who do not want to be bothered). One prevalent observation I have made is that of drink choices. In the picture above there are two mugs of hot water, a container of hot tea, and water with very little ice. These are three common request that I get when serving international students or non-native residents. I think that a person's drink choices, along with the temperature they prefer the drink has a lot to say about the culture and how they were socialized. People from the United States always want a cold drink, customers always ask for a lot of ice, or even just a cup of ice to have on hand. International students and non-native residents ask me for no ice, or just hot water to drink. These stark differences allows me to see that while we might believe that everyone enjoys drinks at an ice cold temperature, that may not be the case.  My Austrian professor mentioned to me that it is Americans that love cold drinks, everyone else, not so much. As a server, I've been able to see how her statement is relatively true. (obviously, people enjoy different drinks at different temperatures) It is amazing to find out that there are little things, such as the temperature that you want your drink, can reveal your culture, and how your palate has been socialized.